Russia Turns a Ukrainian Nuclear City into a Stronghold of Fear

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Founded in 1970, the Soviet-built city of Enerhodar was named “the gift of energy,” a prosperous hub for power plant workers and their families. With leafy boulevards and towering apartment blocks, it once embodied stability and modernity.

Today, after nearly four years of Russian occupation, Enerhodar has become a city of silence and intimidation. Soldiers carry out sudden home raids, detain residents without explanation, and send some to faraway penal colonies. Most of the city’s original population has fled, their homes seized and resettled by Russians. Children are re-educated to show loyalty to President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s state energy giant, Rosatom.

Moscow’s money and Rosatom’s influence now dominate every part of daily life. The company and Russian law enforcement share control of the city, while troops remain entrenched inside the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Across Enerhodar, signs of forced transformation are everywhere: schools and cultural centers reopened under Rosatom funding, supermarkets stocked with Russian goods, unfamiliar settlers strolling through near-empty streets.

Interviews with more than 50 people—including current and former residents and officials—along with documents from occupation authorities and Rosatom, show how Enerhodar is being reshaped into a “Russian atomic city.” The Kremlin’s broader strategy is clear: erase Ukrainian identity and replace it with loyalty to Moscow.

“Russians, they force people to love them,” said Oleg Dudar, a former nuclear plant manager who fled in 2022. “They tell you: either I shoot you, break your arm, your leg—or you learn to love me.”

The Kremlin declined to answer Reuters’ questions. Enerhodar’s occupation administration and Rosatom insist their goal is to “build a brighter future,” rejecting claims of repression.